Compromise in Value: When Price Doesn't Equal Performance

Our Assessment: A Budget-Friendly Drive with Caveats

While the Lexar NQ780 is undeniably budget-friendly, offering decent performance for its price point, it leverages older hardware. This reliance on legacy components, some over five years old, means it struggles to keep pace with newer, more efficient alternatives that are only slightly more expensive. Its performance is acceptable but not outstanding, leaving a gap for those seeking cutting-edge speed without a significant price hike.

The Pros and Cons: Weighing the Choices for Your Next SSD

The Lexar NQ780 boasts several advantages, including commendable performance in certain aspects, effective thermal management, and an attractive price point. However, these benefits are tempered by the inclusion of outdated components, which contribute to slower load times compared to contemporary drives. Consequently, more advanced options are available for a marginal increase in cost.

Price Volatility: Navigating the Shifting Sands of SSD Costs

SSD prices are currently in flux, though not as severely as memory components. Regular price adjustments for many SSDs are a common occurrence. Therefore, if the pricing detailed in this review does not align with current market values, this fluctuation is the likely culprit. Employing price tracking tools, such as CamelCamelCamel, is advisable to ascertain whether you are securing a genuine bargain.

The NQ780's Position: A Bland Offering in a Dynamic Market

To be frank, the Lexar NQ780 doesn't stand out. In an industry buzzing with rapid PCIe 5.0 drives, innovative controller designs, and advanced NAND flash technologies, the NQ780 simply exists. It doesn't offer anything particularly groundbreaking or an interesting quirk that typically characterizes new hardware releases.

Comparative Performance: Lagging Behind Modern Standards

This drive certainly isn't a contender for the top SSD of the next year. Its speed and performance profile are on par with drives like the Samsung 990 Evo Plus and the Crucial P310 from earlier this year. It caters to a market segment prioritizing storage capacity over raw speed. While not inherently poor, it mirrors or falls short of virtually every other PCIe 4.0 drive released previously, arriving nearly eight months after its peers.

Unbeatable Value: The NQ780's Most Compelling Feature

The Lexar NQ780's most significant strength lies in its aggressive pricing. Even amidst major sales events like Black Friday, its suggested retail price offers an exceptional cost per gigabyte, potentially one of the lowest observed. If this pricing remains stable, it could be the drive's saving grace, especially with ongoing memory shortages driving up prices across the market.

Technical Specifications: A Look Under the Hood of the Lexar NQ780

The Lexar NQ780 boasts a 4 TB capacity with a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface. It utilizes an Innogrit IG5236 memory controller and Intel 144-layer 3D QLC NAND flash. Its rated performance includes sustained read speeds of 7,000 MB/s and write speeds of 6,000 MB/s. With an endurance of 2400 TBW and a five-year warranty, it comes at a price point of approximately $264 or £253.

Component Analysis: An Echo from the Past

The NQ780's internal architecture is a peculiar mix. Eschewing controllers from more common brands, it features an Innogrit IG5236 eight-channel 12 nm controller, a component first introduced in 2020. This PCIe 4.0 M.2-2280 form factor drive is coupled with Intel's 144-layer QLC NAND flash, with each package offering 1 TB. For the 4 TB model, this means four such packages arranged on a single-sided stick, ensuring compatibility with a wide array of devices including laptops and consoles.

Performance Implications: The Age of Components Revealed

This choice of older hardware immediately highlights two key aspects: the drive tends to run warmer and is less energy-efficient than most contemporary drives. Furthermore, the use of such dated components gives the impression of a product that's more of a stock clearance and rebranding effort rather than a fresh market introduction, particularly given the controller's age.

Benchmarking Results: Expected Outcomes from a Value-Oriented Drive

As might be anticipated from a drive of this class, its performance metrics are predictable. While initial sequential speeds are impressive, once the pSLC cache reaches its capacity, the drive's speed drops considerably.

Comparative Benchmarking: NQ780 vs. WD Blue SN5100

In CrystalDiskMark tests, the NQ780 achieved sequential read speeds of 7,446 MB/s and write speeds of 6,601 MB/s, placing it on par with the WD Blue SN5100. However, when it comes to Random 4K testing, the SN5100 significantly outperforms the NQ780, with the latter showing a notably weaker performance of just 70 MB/s, ranking it among the lowest in recent tests of 19 different drives.

Gaming Performance: The Impact of Weak Random 4K Reads

This deficiency in random 4K read performance is crucial for gamers, as it directly influences how AAA titles access files from an SSD. Game assets, textures, meshes, and audio files are not stored sequentially; therefore, a drive's ability to quickly read these disparate files is paramount. The NQ780's poor showing in this area directly translates to longer game loading times.

Real-World Gaming Test: A Slower Experience

In the Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers benchmark, the NQ780 recorded a loading time of 7.869 seconds. While this might seem quick in isolation, it is notably slower compared to modern SSD competitors. This result is particularly telling given that FF XIV typically benefits from larger capacity drives, and the test was conducted on a 4 TB model, whereas most comparable results are from 2 TB models.

Strategic Ambiguity: A Drive Born of Opportunistic Decisions?

The existence of the NQ780 is somewhat puzzling. It appears to be a product born from a seemingly opportunistic decision to combine readily available, inexpensive NAND flash and budget controllers from previous generations. This combination resulted in a quick market entry for a drive that, unfortunately, struggles to compete with its contemporary PCIe 4.0 counterparts.

Concluding Thoughts: The NQ780's Place in the Market

While its aggressive pricing remains the NQ780's strongest suit, there's a strong argument to be made for investing slightly more in alternatives like the SN5100. Despite recent price increases, the SN5100 offers superior performance across all categories, even with QLC NAND. In today's market, releasing a drive like the NQ780 is simply not sufficient. Nevertheless, broader industry price hikes could keep it relevant if its current price point persists.